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Author
Topic: Tanning Beds and being HIV+ (Read 10619 times)

How many of you guys in here go tanning... I have heard good things and bad things about it. On the up side, tanning supplies the body with plenty of vitamin D. Even going once a week is plenty. I go two times per week. On the not so great end of the spectrum, tanning can increase your chance of developing skin cancer. I an checked about one time per year for skin cancer, and have had some benign lesions removed. I am due again sometime next month. Does anyone else in here go tanning...?? C'mon, even if we know we're not supposed to.

I tan weekly during the winter and sunbathe constantly during the summer. I questioned my ID doctor who issued the standard warnings. That being said, not sure I'd continue if I ever had lessions removed.

I tan weekly during the winter and sunbathe constantly during the summer. I questioned my ID doctor who issued the standard warnings. That being said, not sure I'd continue if I ever had lessions removed.

i totally agree with my buddy Wolfie!

I haven't been to a tanning bed in a while though. I did while I lived in Ohio (even back when I had the aids) - not just to stay tanned; but to stay warm! LOL

here in SC, it's been so mild this winter, that I've actually been able to get outside every 4 to 5 days and stay out soaking up the sun for several hrs. Although my tan isn't as good as it was this summer, I still have a very nice tan line showing off my glow-in-the-dark white ass. LOL

I go up me patch of earth and dig, not only is it good for me back and arms I get brown regardless of cloud cover. Why are you tanning if I you have had some skin lesions removed? It's asking for trouble. Get a bike and cycle in a small top. This also firms yer bum, which is essential for any ageing bod.

When I was young I was a Goth (eg Emo with an umbrella) and pale as a vampire, now I've had sex I dig and am brown (in a farmer tan kind of way).

- matt

Now playing: Tina C (and I don't mean combined in a syringe, it's a radio musical comedy slot on the BBC)

You can get Vit D in a pill or in your diet. You have damage in your skin from the "sun" and you want the happy go lucky OK to continue the abuse? Find another way to relax or another way to make yourself attractive or whatever is attracting you to the tanning.

« Last Edit: January 18, 2012, 06:21:36 PM by mecch »

Logged

ďFrom each, according to his ability; to each, according to his needĒ 1875 K Marx

I use to go tanning about once a month in the winter. And, it always made me feel great. I really need to go. I'm Casper. And, I could use to pep it gives. I haven't been since last winter.

I've read vit-d needs those UV rays to activate it and that foods and supplements just won't work as well without some sunlight, or fake. There has to be something to that, because most people say they feel so much better after getting sun. And, we know about SAD.

I've been tan once in my life. It was 1991 and I was in the desert of Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Even with 35 SPF, I was in the sun enough to get the arms, the neck and "v-neck" tan. The rest of my life -- I've been white or red. Red often as a child, now only when I forget my sunscreen (50 SPF now).I've never understand the desire to sit in the sun in order to darken your skin -- I don't think it makes anyone look better. Oh -- I live with a man who would go without sunscreen and turn brown as could be, but I nag him into using a 4 or 8 SPF (most days) and he only turns a light brown, he looks no sexier to me like that -- however I find his not having cancer to be a sexy.

"I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else."

I used to go to tanning beds back in the 80's and early 90's--it didn't take but a couple of sessions and I'd be dark for 6 months.

Then I was in an antique store one day and saw a bunch of modern ketchup bottles that had been aged to that lovely opaque lavender that happens after being in the sun for 50 years. When I asked the shopkeeper how that was possible, he explained that it was accomplished by putting them in a tanning bed for half a year.

I used to go to tanning beds back in the 80's and early 90's--it didn't take but a couple of sessions and I'd be dark for 6 months.

Then I was in an antique store one day and saw a bunch of modern ketchup bottles that had been aged to that lovely opaque lavender that happens after being in the sun for 50 years. When I asked the shopkeeper how that was possible, he explained that it was accomplished by putting them in a tanning bed for half a year.

That's when I stopped using tanning beds.

Smart man I never could understand the whole concept of why anyone wanted to get a tan, I always thought it was kinda silly & frivolous

Logged

"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

I never could understand the whole concept of why anyone wanted to get a tan, I always thought it was kinda silly & frivolous

When I lived in Ohio, tanning was a sure-fire way to get warm! Good god! when the snow can lie on the ground from Dec to the end of Mar with hardly any grass ever being seen and temps dropping to -20 with an average for a whole month in the teens, then 15-20 minutes in a tanning bed getting heated up clear into your bones is just about the best thing evah!

for myself, I saw it when I was tanning and I see it now spending a lot of time outside in the Spring and Summer in SC - I feel better - actually happier (less depressed) and "healthier" - when I am exposed to a lot of light (and the vitamin D probably).

plus, in general, as any mom that has ever told their child to put down a book or leave a video game and go outside, I think there's something about patsy white, anemic-looking people that isn't as attractive or healthy-looking as someone with a "healthy" glow and a little bit of color in their cheeks.

When I lived in Ohio, tanning was a sure-fire way to get warm! Good god! when the snow can lie on the ground from Dec to the end of Mar with hardly any grass ever being seen and temps dropping to -20 with an average for a whole month in the teens, then 15-20 minutes in a tanning bed getting heated up clear into your bones is just about the best thing evah!

for myself, I saw it when I was tanning and I see it now spending a lot of time outside in the Spring and Summer in SC - I feel better - actually happier (less depressed) and "healthier" - when I am exposed to a lot of light (and the vitamin D probably).

plus, in general, as any mom that has ever told their child to put down a book or leave a video game and go outside, I think there's something about patsy white, anemic-looking people that isn't as attractive or healthy-looking as someone with a "healthy" glow and a little bit of color in their cheeks.

well like everything else, only in moderation, I don't want skin cancer, ( I live in the desert) and here in NM, an hour in the sun here is like 3 hours on a sunny beach, to each his own, I suppose, depends on what part of the country you live in

Logged

"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

I don't use a tanning bed because I am afraid of melanoma and wrinkles. Back in my 20s one of my classmates noticed he had a mole on his back, was diagnosed with melanoma and was dead within 6 months. I admit I do love to swim in the ocean and then dry in the sun but at least I always wear sunscreen. I don't mind being white but I think farmer tan looks dorky.

I realise that some people find your sense of humor amusing, but even for you, this seems over the top. Perhaps it reminds of the days when it was preached that queers deserved to die from AIDS?

Wolfie

Wolfie, the point of reporting a post is so you don't deal with it yourself. You waited a whole 4 minutes, four seconds before taking matters into your own hands. Give me a break. If you report, leave it to us to deal with.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Back in the 90's I used to take annual trips to both San Juan and Miami during the winter months, so each week before I left I would make use of tanning beds so that I didn't show up looking like a pale New Yorker.

Can't say it did anything bad to me. However, this only went on over a span of maybe seven years. Before that period and afterwards I've maintained pale skin so as far as I know I don't have any skin cancer issues, though at some point I will go to a dermatologist for a proper evaluation now that I'm in my mid-40's.

Wolfie, the point of reporting a post is so you don't deal with it yourself. You waited a whole 4 minutes, four seconds before taking matters into your own hands. Give me a break. If you report, leave it to us to deal with.

Sorry. I thought about making my first report and then decided against it. Didn't realize I did it incorrectly. And yet, I had more words written for my behavior than to the poster who made yet another comment that should be offensive to anyone that can read?

It appears there are some dynamics going on behind the scenes that we peons aren't privy to as in my mind, this shouldn't have needed reported but instead, proactively addressed.

Sorry. I thought about making my first report and then decided against it. Didn't realize I did it incorrectly. And yet, I had more words written for my behavior than to the poster who made yet another comment that should be offensive to anyone that can read?

It appears there are some dynamics going on behind the scenes that we peons aren't privy to as in my mind, this shouldn't have needed reported but instead, proactively addressed.

Wolfie

LOL, Just take your spanking and move on. Arguing with Ann will get you nowhere. Trust me, ive tried it.

I used to be a serial tanner back when I was diagnosed. I consulted my doc since I had read some articles touting the unsafe aspects of tanning to POZ individuals. She said she didn't believe there was any proof that tanning was any more dangerous to any one group of people, and in general she said tanning is just really unsafe for everyone. I noticed more moles popping up and I decided to give it a rest on the tanning. I'm now embrassing my inner whitey lol. I agree with the ones that said pale white is coming back in style. After all Robert Pattinson and his vampire character are making it kewl again to be pastey white.

The problem with spray tans is you end up smelling like chicken noodle soup for days

Having had a friend get half his face cut off thanks to skin cancer, I'll take the soup.

Tanning, tobacco, pot, coke,booze. We choose our vices, hopefully with open eyes. But everything has a price. I don't think any of us leads a life totally without a vice or three. Doesn't make them less dangerous, of course.

JK

/almost 46 years of pasty living. No wrinkles.

Logged

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

I'm curious how many here have been to the dermy to have a check at least once? Were you suspicious of something you saw, or just went for a screening? Are there guidelines on how often one should be checked? Do they check everywhere?

I will never forget the CBS News story of a soldier who had melanoma on his butt cheek. It was dismissed as a wart, and he was actually never informed, even after one doc noted the cancer. But, that gets into another topic that the story covers. The original story made people aware that sun damage can happen through clothing. And, he was hispanic and many believe darker-skinned people don't get skin cancer. CBS News was there when he died. I will never forget how he looked. How many of us check out our own backsides? I don't make a habit of taking a hand mirror and looking.

The way he looks is very disturbing. Very disturbing. I'm not posting it to sensationalize or to make any statement about tanning. It just made me think how anyone could have something that goes unseen. Even if you had a partner who is always with his/her face down there, I'm not sure they would know what to look for. So, this has reminded me, again, to make an appt to be screened.